Christian Burgess looks for Fratton to add extra edge for Pompey

Steve Wilson

Christian Burgess is hopeful the Fratton factor can play a part in unlocking the more stubborn League Two defences.

The Pompey centre-back was left frustrated by the 0-0 draw at Crawley in midweek as the home side set out for a bore draw and eventually achieved their lowly ambitions.

While it left the Blues disappointed, it sealed a seventh point from three league fixtures for Paul Cook’s side – a start most Blues fans would have accepted gladly before a ball was kicked this term.

But after two games on the road, Burgess believes another big home crowd at Fratton will add another dimension if Morecambe adopt a similar defensive strategy to Crawley.

Burgess said: ‘You don’t know how Morecambe will set up.

‘But we might get another team sitting back and putting men behind the ball and making themselves hard to break down.

‘I think we have to work on that as I’m sure we will come across that on more occasions this season.

‘It was an incredible atmosphere to play in on the first day against Dagenham & Redbridge and, hopefully, we can cut teams open a bit more there.

‘It was brilliant support and you can’t help but look forward to playing at home again.’

Pompey also required an element of patience a fortnight ago as they had to wait until the second half for a Gareth Evans header and Kyle Bennett’s explosive double to clinch an encouraging 3-0 win against the Daggers.

Burgess said: ‘We all believed in what we were trying to do against Dagenham.

‘We had to wait for that first goal but we looked good on the day. Now it’s up to us to deliver another performance like that.

‘Kyle Bennett had a great game that day but I think we have got plenty of goals in us and plenty of creativity in the side.